


Visiting

by MarsupialsOfMars



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-24
Updated: 2020-01-24
Packaged: 2021-02-27 06:35:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,652
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22382674
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MarsupialsOfMars/pseuds/MarsupialsOfMars
Summary: Roman is forced by Patton to visit his brother, but in visiting, has to confront his crush on Deceit, who seems to be playing into it. Whether it’s because he truly likes Roman back, or for some more sinister reason, Roman is convinced he has the perfect love story on his hands.
Relationships: Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders/Deceit Sanders
Comments: 1
Kudos: 37





	Visiting

Roman stood at the basement door, clutching a quickly cooling ham casserole. He pulled his phone from his pocket and tapped out a text with one hand.

-im here, what do I do?

-knock you idiot. Not hard.

-oh, if it’s so easy then why arent you here?!

-dont. You know exactly why.

Roman groaned. Earlier that day he’d made the mistake of mentioning to Patton his reluctance to ever intentionally visit his brother. Dispite how understandable hed assumed that course of action was, Patton was shocked, scolding Roman about the importance of family, and ‘if you had such a strong role model of a brother wouldnt you want him to visit you? Maybe all he needs is somebody to look up to! Maybe he acts out because he doesn’t know any better down there!’

Roman tried to talk him out of it but he was already busy whipping up the then oven-fresh peace offering Roman now clutched nervously to his chest.

He’d asked Virgil to be his chaperone, even going as far as to say to Patton that he refused to go alone, but the conversation quickly sent their friend into a mild panic attack, effectively guilt tripping Roman into agreeing to tough it out. Virgil agreed to compromise by staying in constant phone contact throughout the visit.

Roman knocked lightly on the door, a sound which he doubted even someone with their ear pressed up to the other side could hear. He balled his fist tightly at his side. He’d never once been to the dark sides’ ‘realm’ but with how Virgil had described it he wasn’t particularly enticed. Patton, of course, had visited before to bring down homecooked dinners once a week. He described it nicely enough, but his tone betrayed something like pity. Like a priveliged charity worker trying to be considerate.

He sighed and knocked again. He hoped with all his heart Remus wouldn’t answer. But as he considered the alternative he almost took that thought back. Remus wasn’t the only reason for his nervousness. He gulped and sucked in a deep breath to keep the red from his face.

His heartbeat quickened as he heard footsteps approaching to door. The knob turned and,

“Oh, you’re not Patton, you look like hell.”

A waft of putrid air carried from the motion of the door. Roman coughed.

“You look AND smell like hell, so try to insult me.” His hand shot up in front of his face, catching an incoming blunt object. Nothing sharp, thankfully.

“FUCK!” Remus ripped his weapon from Roman’s manicured grip, not seeming particularly disappointed.

“I’m getting used to head-on assault.”

“ASSault! That’s a fun word! I’ve been using harrASS, honestly I could flip and flop all day, well, ill get ya next time thanks for the giggle, now-” he grabbed the casserole and began to close the door, stopped by Roman’s boot. He looked up. “This is the part where the messanger boy leaves. I’m going to be closing the door so you might want to get the foot out first. Oak versus flesh is quite the mess and flesh never seems to win.” Roman grimaced. Remus giggled. “Like rock paper scissors! But more exciting!”

“I’m not a 'messanger boy’, Patton wanted me to-” Roman perked up at a familiar voice from the bottom of the stairs.

“REMUS! Was sending you up there a mistake? You’re taking quite the long time, I dont want you having another altercation with Patton, I told you to take the food and shut the door, two steps!”

“I tried that boss, hes not leaving!”

“Just- get back down here I’ll take care of it.”

Roman watched in awe as Remus scampered down the stairs without a second thought. He seemed reasonably tamed at the word of… Roman felt the blood rush to his ears. Footsteps approached, and a figure began to emerge from the shadows of the dimly lit stairway.

“My apologies Patton, assigning him menial tasks keeps him busy-” Deceit paused and squinted up the stairs, his single yellow eye quickly widening, glinting in the light flooding the doorway. He straightened himself and yanked the messy topknot out of his hair, running a hand through it.

“Well I’d have made myself more presentable if I’d known we were being visited by ROYALTY!” He flashed a charming grin, his fangs gleaming as they caught the doorway light.

Roman felt as if he’d had the wind knocked out of him. Unlike his previous encounters with the man before him, he was dressed rather informally, a word here meaning, unfortunately for Roman, a Tank Top. In the moment, Roman seriously wondered why it was not illegal to wear a tank top in front of one who was already blushing at the said wearers goddamn voice.

“You look greA-, fine- GOOD.” Roman collected his thoughts. “You’re all good, no problems, your house, your rules, you could have as little clothes on as you wan-” Roman bit his cheek and let out a thin groan of resentment for himself. “Let’s start over, hello Deceit, Patton wanted me to give you a casserole, and he said he wanted me to have some brotherly time with my… brother.”

Deceit nodded, clearly humored with the display. “Well we wouldnt want to disappoint would we? You’re fully welcome to stay for dinner.”

Roman nodded silently and mumbled a thanks, the redness slowly but surely flushing out of his face. He followed Deceit down the stairs at his motion.

The further down they went, the thicker and colder the air became. A cave-like atmosphere pressed in on Roman as they descended further and further into the basement. Or what Roman called the basement. It was more accurately the realm of the dark sides, an upside-down type sanders apartment, the only reason for its nickname being the door to the space resembling a basement door. It wasn’t as awful as Roman had imagined; the air was breathable, it smelled relatively pleasant (though not of Patton’s baking like the light’s house often did), there were no spiders or creepy crawlies. The only identifiable problem was that the dark realm was .. dark. The poor lighting seemed reminiscent of a naturally lit house on a rainy day.

“Have a seat, kick back, pick your poison.” Deceit maneuvered about the kitchen, throwing open a cabinet filled with alcohol.

“Anything is fine. Logan’s got a tip about beer when I want ideas, wine when i dont… anything red?”

“Ooh we’re classy aren’t we?” He pulled down a bottle and filled two glasses.

“Oh I really dont drink much…”

“You dont live with your brother.” A thin veil of humor blanketed clear exaustion in Deceit’s tone.

“Did someone say poison? Are we talking about poison now???” Remus trotted into the room, placing the previously apprehended casserole on the table. “You know that’s funny-”

“Remus, did you poison that casserole?” Deceit pinched the bridge of his nose.

“Of course not! We have company, why would I ever want to poison,” his eyes locked with Roman’s, “our lovely company?”

“Remus Creativity Sanders, look me in the eyes- look at me! And tell me you didn’t poison our dinner.” His tone was stern. Remus made a direct effort to look only at his one human eye.

“I… did not poison two out of our three dinners.” Deceit drew a sharp breath through his nose.

“But but but! It was…because… I know that roman loves the princess bride, and particularly the scene where the hero murders the villain with a poisonous russian roulette! Fun! Dinner game!” Deceit shook his head.

“Go to the kitchen, empty the poison into the disposal, come back, and sit down.” Remus pouted but lifted the now-lukewarm casserole off the table and out of the room.

Deceit sat next to Roman with a sigh. Roman watched his profile .

“You know, I’ve never seen that guy so… functional. Usually he’d have tried something like that at least a few times by now. And he definitely wouldnt have turned it off so fast.”

“Oh I have my ways.” Deceit smirked.

“Did you… do something to him?”

“Oh, of course. I had him lobotomized, very dangerous but very necessary.”

“You WHAT?!” Roman’s heart leapt to his throat. “How much of him did you-?!”

Remus reentered the room and pushed the casserole, now with a third missing, into the center of the table. As he sat, his eyes shifted to Deceit expectantly. Deceit reached for something under the table. Roman clenched his teeth and pressed himself back in his seat. Who knew what other violent precautions this sadistic snake had taken?

“Good job Remus, I’m very proud of your integrity.” He slid a small and colorfully wrapped candy across the table. Remus grabbed it and popped it in his mouth wrapper and all. Deceit chuckled at Roman’s uneasy expression. “Roman, I do hope you knew I was kidding. It’s positive reinforcement. I’m sure Patton manages you all with something similar.”

“Oh… yeah, yeah of course!” Roman laughed very convincingly to assure without doubt that he was in on the joke. Deceit leaned in to cut the meal in two and served the brothers. He leaned back and picked up his glass.

“Are you… not eating?”

“There’s only two servings and a side is nothing if not hospitable.”

“I thought your kind of side was more… evil.” Roman bit his lip as the thought escaped him. Deceits smile drew slightly more taut. He set his glass on the table.

“Then that must have been a misconception. We really are quite the hosts, no matter how rude our houseguest may be.”

Roman avoided eye contact. “Must have been…you really should have my serving though, I get Patton’s cooking all the time.” Roman pushed Deceit his peace offering only for it to be quickly returned.

“Really though, take it. I ate less than a week ago, this was merely going to be a cheat day in the first place.”

“A week?!” Roman quickly forgot to avoid eye contact.

“I’m more snake than you may first assume… I hope that wont bother you?” Deceit cocked his head and squinted at Roman curiously.

“Oh of course not! I like the snake stuff, its… dragonish!” Roman leapt to reclaim his reputation as a courteous houseguest.

“Oh, you should be bothered, you should see him eat, its disgusting!” Remus butted in. “His jaw splits and pulls open with all these popping sounds,” Roman looked toward Deceit, who seemed to be frantically searching his person for something. “He could fit an entire pig in there! Speaking of which, this is ham right? You ever think about how an animal had to die for this? Conceived in dirt, born slimy and fresh on some mud, it rolled around a bit, ate and shit, then was murdered and cooked and BAM a lovely dinner! Speaking of which could you thank Patton for this, it’s delicous. Did you know that there’s people who eat almost all parts of a pig? Feet, guts, brain, tail, pickled pigs anu- FFUCK!” Remus jolted and grabbed his neck. For the first time Roman noticed a thin black collar. He looked to Deceit who seemed to have found what hed been searching himself for. Some sort of remote.

“What happened to positive reinforcement?!” Deceit turned to Roman.

“Oh the collar? He doesn’t mind it, it’s simply to derail his train of thought, usually when theres an expectation of holding an appetite, like at the dinner table.” His voice rose slightly and his eyes flicked sternly to Remus, who was fidgeting with his collar.

“Do it again! I can take it!” He splayed his fingers on the table with a wild sheen to his eyes.

“And honestly…” Deceit rubbed his temples.“He might enjoy it too much. But what works works.” Roman nodded, looking at Remus with part disgust and part exhaustion. Deceit held up a Jolly Rancher.

“Now, are you going to keep your mouth shut at the table?”

Remus made grabby hands. “Yes boss! Give!” He caught the candy and bit into it with a crunch.

“You know you can summon your own candy…” Roman watched as his brother finished his candy and began gnawing on the wrapper.

“Nice try princey, even I know that Deceit is the only side who can summon candy, he invented it, he told me himself.” Roman’s eyes darted to Deceit who nodded, and locked his hands with a pleading expression.

“Oh of course… what was I thinking?” Roman obliged.

Remus licked his plate and smashed it against the table. “Welp, I’m done!” He hopped up and left through the kitchen.

Roman huffed a sigh of relief.

“So, Patton sent you down here to bond with your brother did he?”

“Unfortunately. But not like hes the boss of me, I also agreed, I’m independent!” Roman added on quickly.

“Of course he’s not, and of course you are… so I should leave you two alone shouldn’t I? For your brotherly time?” Something about the way he said it made it seem like he already knew Roman’s answer.

“No, of course not, by all means if you want to stay it’s your house! I hate that guy anyway.”

“Yet you were in agreement? To have a reunion?”

Roman felt the blood begin to rise in his neck.

“…yyyes.”

“Be straight with me Roman…” Deceit pressed his fingertips to the table and straightened his back. Roman resisted the urge to comment on the impossibility of that request. It didn’t seem entirely appropriate in the moment. “Did you really want to come down here? You were afraid weren’t you? Afraid of what you’d find? Afraid to see…” He gestured to himself, and only after a lingering moment to the direction Remus had left. “…Us?”

Roman felt the heat rise to his ears. He scrambled to reclaim higher ground in the conversation.

“I’ve fought many a valiant battle and triumphed time and time again, a prince such as myself does not fear any obstacle!”

“Ah… I see.” Deceit leaned back with a sly smile, “Then I apologize for challenging the brave and valiant Prince Roman.” He leaned forward suddenly, and Roman felt his hand on his knee. His eyes darted down, following the scales from the top of Deceit’s ungloved hand, up his arm, until he was staring into a slitted yellow eye. His exaggerated expression was almost mocking in its remorse, layered over a potent smuggness. “I do hope you can forgive me for my mistake.”

“Not… a problem.” Roman croaked out his acceptance.

“Well for my transgression, this is still only customary for a prince.” He smirked, no longer bothering to put on a show.

“What’s only custo-”

Deceit took Roman’s hand and gently lifted it, brushing his lips against his knuckes. Roman’s face flared red. He could only let out a choked sputtering in response.

“HOLY SHIT!” both heads turned to find Remus in the kitchen doorway holding a bowl of dark pink ice cream, mouth agape. Roman quickly pushed his chair away from Deceit and gripped his hand as if it had been bitten by a snake.

“THIS IS NOTHING!” He willed his face to stop blushing.

“Roman is right. It was nothing.” Deceit smirked at Roman, challenging him to decipher whether or not that was a lie. “Well, since I was so obviously wrong about your fears your highness, I suppose you two should get to bonding. Call me if you need anything.” He gripped Roman’s shoulder, catching his eye. “Anything.”

Roman nodded, breaking eye contact breifly to notice Deceit bite his lip, his fangs subtly visible. He quickly looked away. Deceit left, his hand slowly trailing off Roman’s shoulder as he did.

Roman sat a moment, processing, before whipping out his phone.

-HELP

-what happened?! What did they do to you?!

-hes HOT!

Roman waited.

-WHO?! Deceit?!

-maybe! I dont know!

-is this just you or is he playing into it?!

-i dont know! We were talkig and hes lik,e,,, wearing a TANKK TTOP and he like, kind of touched my armn and he kisped my HAnd

-Remember the first time we saw him with thomas?

-he was still hot! Crap, he was wasn’t he?!

-you said you felt used because he played toward your love of getting what you want to get you to play into his scheme. Keep that in mind, and dont talk to him again. Got it?

-but hes nice I think!

-hes not. Hes lying. A lie can be a consistent facade. He does it all the time.

Roman felt a hand on his shoulder and a face next to his.

“Whoya texting?” Remus peered over his shoulder. Roman hugged his phone to his chest and quickly sent a final “gtg” before shutting it off and stuffing it in his pocket.

“Nobody, shit stick.” Remus giggled knowingly and gripped Roman’s shoulders, shaking his chair excitedly.

“You TOTALLY wanna fuck my boss! Little Ro bro wants the Dee!”

Roman choked. “Do NOT!”

“Dont try to hide it like I didnt see all of that just now! C'mon, let me be your wingman!”

Roman scoffed. “That’s hilarious. You don’t know a thing about romance.”

“Here’s my idea;” he ignored Roman’s denouncement, “you find a box, probably pretty small, you cut a hole in the side, wrap it up-”

“We are NOT doing DICK IN A BOX!” Roman yelped in indignation.

“Aw cmon, it’s a cute idea!”

“This is why you’re thoughts, and I’M ideas, that was a COMEDY SKETCH about what NOT to do!”

“Fiiiine. How about… you go to his room, release all of his snakes about the house, rescue him before he gets bit, BOOM, you’re a hero, AND you can fuck him!”

“For god’s sake! I do NOT want to 'FUCK HIM’!” Roman quickly lowered his voice as he noticed he was shouting. He took the last bite of his cold dinner and slammed the rest of his drink. “I just want to get through this visit so I can tell Patton I did it.”

Remus pulled out the dining chair next to him and straddled the back. “And you don’t want any sort of memory-based souvenir? Or a physical one, I can show you to his sock drawer, or if you want to be more risque I can dare you to get what hes already got on~”

“Can you shut up?!”

“I can’t! I thought you knew that by now. Heres the deal, you get what hes got on, give it to ME, and I can have it, just like, for personal reasons, deal?!”

“That’s GROSSER!” Roman shoved Remus off his chair with a loud bang. He quickly scrambled to assure that nothing was broken.

“Cmon, he never gives me anything!”

“Maybe if you ever took a SHOWER that might be a little easier!”

“Ew no thanks.”

“How about; it’s my choice whether I try anything or not, and you let me be about it.” Roman righted the fallen chair.

“So you ARE going to try something!”

“That’s not at all what I said!”

“Mhm. Well I’ve got a dessert to finish, fill me in on any juicy gossip, I want all the details!” Remus finished in a singsong tone and took a bite of his ice cream. It smelled off.

“What is that, strawberry?”

“Ketchup!”

“Of course, what was I thinking?” Roman stood from his chair, about to leave when he realized he didnt know where to go. He wasn’t in the light’s place and Patton wouldn’t want him back so soon, he definitely didn’t want to spend a single second in Remus’s wasteland… he pondered his options a moment before sinking out to the mind palace stage.Roman sat on the edge of the mind palace stage, letting his legs hang down and looking out at the sea of empty seats. He often went there to think, but exactly what he was trying to think about he wasn’t entirely sure of. He sighed. He needed a friend to talk to.

He pulled out his phone. A string of stern and panicked texts greeted him from his lockscreen. He quickly turned it off and stuffed it back in his pocket. It was clear that Virgil was not going to be too open to earnestly discussing Roman’s feelings when it came to who they were about.

Roman thought a moment before conjuring a less angry Virgil next to him. He turned to his creation.

“Hey sunshine.”

“Hey sir sickening.” Virgil layed back on the stage, swinging his bare heels against the side. “What’s the sitch?”

“I’m confused.”

“Aren’t we all?”

“Its Deceit… I know he hasn’t been the greatest in the past, but what if hes not so bad? He seems so… encouraging. And I know he lies but hes obviously honest when he regards me so highly, isn’t he? And he mentions it a lot so…”

Virgil pushed himself upright. “Are you kidding? His title is DECEIT! He doesn’t give a shit about-”

Roman quickly froze the image. He stared at the now stone still Virgil. Maybe a little too realistic for what he wanted in the moment. He wiped that Virgil from existence and conjured another, much more positive Virgil.

“Hey handsome!” Virgil smiled sincerely.

“The most accurate name yet! Yknow, I like you!” Roman beamed in pride at his new and improved friend. Ideal.

“What’s bugging you?” He pushed his bangs out of his eyes and pulled off his hoodie. Much more approachable.

“Its Deceit…”

“Ooo a crush!” Virgil chuckled and crossed his legs.

“Yeah, I dont know what to say around him, I’m usually so articulate and confident!”

“Yeah, that’s weird. And you’re usually extremely brave and handsome too…”

Roman gasped and clutched his chest. “Aw, thank you!” He considered how much better the real Virgil would be if he’d been responsible for making him in the first place.

“…What if you tried practicing?”

“Practicing?”

“You’ve got this whole stage, you can conjure whatever, why not a practice Deceit?”

“Virgil I love that idea!”

“It was your idea! I’m imaginary!”

“Very true, I’m so smart!”

“You are!” Virgils voice was made slightly more robotic as he fell out of character. It was hard to conjure such opposite lines from a voice that Roman had never heard talk in such a way before. Roman swung his legs back onto the stage and stood, striding to the center and conjuring a Deceit. He took a deep breath.

“Deceit!”

“Roman.” He smirked. “You called?”

Roman’s breath caught in his throat. “I did! I… wanted to share with you…”

“You’re doing great!” Virgil flashed Roman a thumbs up.

“I, Prince Roman, wanted to share with you… my feelings! Those feelings specifically being in regards to…” He gripped his sash. Deceit smirked, raising a brow.

“Regards to…?”

Too real. This practice was far too real. He shut his eyes and quickly conjured a dragon. It swooped down, a rush of strong wind under its heavy leather wings, violently whipping their hair against their faces. Deceit yelped as he was snagged in a large, sturdy talon and taken upwards, circling the theater.

“FEIND! Release my prince or taste my sword!”

A low, rumbling voice echoed through the theater; “Never! You dare to disturb my meal! I will end your life!”

“You dare to disturb my prince, I’ll end yours!” He grabbed the hilt of his sword and drew it valiantly. “Have at thee!”

The dragon swooped, billowing fire, setting the curtains up in flame. Roman jumped, grabbing the base of its tail and gripping his blade between his teeth as he gripped scales and spines, climbing up the jagged back of the creature. It rolled its body in the air, thrashing as much as it could while maintaining its aerodynamics, vainly trying to shake off its valiant assailant. Roman continued to scale the beast, pressing his body flesh with its cold, scaly surface. He finally reached its shoulder and let out a battle cry as he dropped, grabbing its arm and vaulting himself against its chest, plunging his sword into it’s under-armored ribcage. The beast fell into an airborne death roll before careening into the ground, sending theater chairs flying, torn from their bolts. Roman ran across the belly of his vanquished foe to its feet, now loose enough to pry his prince from their clutches. Deceit looked up at Roman from his strong arms, dizzy and panting, but fully enamored.

“Roman… you saved my life! You truly are-”

“Incredible!” Roman blinked. The voice was Deceit, but not the one in his arms. He looked up and his eyes locked with another, much more real Deceit’s. He was seated in the back row, hidden in shadows, applauding boisterously. “What a show! Such a beautiful production!”

The dragon, Virgil, and fake Deceit all vanished simultaneously in a puff of golden dust. Within the same second the theater’s destruction was undone.

“Deceit!” Roman choked on his words. How much had he seen? “Thank…you.” he struggled to form a sentence so he saved his questions. Perhaps Deceit would answer some himself, as he had already risen to approach Roman.

Roman remained frozen in place, only growing redder as Deceit reached him, placed his hands on his shoulders, and grinned.

“I’m impressed. I hope you didn’t mind my stopping in, but what’s a show without an audience to appreciate the cast? And what a cast it was…”

Roman’s fears were confirmed. He’d recognized the prince in peril. He took a breath.

“Thanks! Thank you. Um…how did you know…?”

“Well I found Remus digging through my drawers with a jarring lack of a brother to accompany him. So I was understandably prompted to ask where you might have gone, out of concern. But clearly you had it all under control. That being said;” Deceit reached behind his back and presented roman with a velvet red rose. “I enjoyed the show.”

Roman took the offering, unable to save face. He beamed, face flushing a similar hue as the flower.

“Thank you! Really… I thought…”

“Hm?”

“I never would have thought you’d be this kind.”

“Well of course. Your knowledge of me is constrained to Virgils stories. And a few occasions in which I was forced to be a bit more brash to get a point across. Which I apologize for. Truly.”

Roman studied Deceit’s face but couldn’t detect any tells, though he wasn’t usually the best judge of what was or was not a tell. In any case, whether it was a lie or not, it left him perplexed.

“No need. Though last time we talked you seemed really adamant on making me feel awful about myself.” Roman realized after the words left his mouth how pathetic they sounded.

“Oh, no no no, was that how you took it? I was merely trying to be honest with my views of you, what you wanted, I was trying to help you. I’m not quite used to being brutally honest so I might have overdone the brutal part…”

“It’s…” Roman tried to decipher it all. Was it all a lie? Was everything a lie? He couldn’t tell, so he settled on what was best for his pride, that being that of course not, the object of his affections would never do such a thing. “It’s okay. I must have misunderstood the tone.” He smiled weakly.

“Look, we want the same thing. We know what Thomas needs. I admire you for that. If I didnt have you I’d go insane trying to get you all on board. You’re so much easier.”

Roman couldn’t tell whether or not he should take that as a compliment.

“Yeah…” he looked down at the flower in his hands. His heart fluttered as he noticed the thorns had been removed by hand. He cared. “Thank you.”

“Now, why dont we get you back up to the lights? We both know you dont really want to spend time with your brother, and I’m sure it’s been enough time to convince Patton that you did.”

Roman sputtered. “I- no, I said it was my choice to-”

Deceit chuckled. “Dont lie to me Roman. It’s best for the both of us. Down here, we’re judgement free. Remember that. And I hope you think to visit more often.”

Roman’s bravado finally found him.

“Maybe I will.” He pinned Deceit with his award winning lopsided smile, guaranteed to make any lady, lord, or nonbinary royalty swoon at the sight of. Deceit met it with a toothy grin, something Roman had never seen from him. Fangs. Long, clear fangs. Roman’s smile faltered a bit, not in fear but suprise. Deceit clearly delighted in his ability to throw anybody off their rhythm at a moments notice.

“You’re adorable your majesty.”

Roman choked and blushed. The sheer concentrations of flattery were like a punch to the gut.

“Thanks…” He squeaked it out. Deceit smirked and pressed his hands to Roman’s sides, gliding them down to his hips, pulling him closer.

“But honestly. I’m holding you to that. I get lonely down here… if you ever wanted to come keep me company…” He pushed up on his toes and leaned in, his fangs almost grazing Roman’s ear. “It would be our little secret~”

And that was when Roman checked out for good, his face burning and his vocabulary reduced to a series of unrelated syllables.

“Now run along, I’m sure you want to get home.” Deceit continued on as if he’d done nothing out of the ordinary.

Roman nodded, electing to keep his mouth shut for the fear of sounding like a nervous sims character. He bowed his head in farewell before quickly sinking out.Roman rose in the light side’s kitchen. Patton turned to smile at him.

“Roman! Welcome back, great to see you in one piece! That wasnt so bad was it?”

The flusteredness in Roman slowly started filter out, to be replaced with raw joy, puppy love, a blissful excitement. He broke into a grin. “I suppose it wasn’t.”

After a quick talk with Patton about how his casserole was received and how sibling relationships were important, Roman rushed off down the hall to his room. Before he reached it though, he slammed headfirst into Virgil.

“WATCH IT I’m pacing!!! Wait… ROMAN!” Virgil looked up, wide eyed. Before Roman could apologize, Virgil had gotten to his feet and grabbed him by the sash, yanking him down so they met eye to eye.

“When were you thinking about answering my texts, asshole?! I’ve had to swallow down a panic attack for HOURS, you know what that does to me?!” His voice was barely understandable under all the bass distortion.

“Im sorry! I was going to but I-”

“Excuses! Tell me what happened down there! NOW before I lose the rest of my cool! I have miniscule amounts of cool left, I’m hanging on by a hair!”

“I can see that…” Roman took a breath. “So the last text I sent you was…?”

Virgil scowled. “The LAST text, after confessing that you think that Deceit, my mortal enemy and an established villain, is ‘hot’ and 'nice, you think’, and with no sort of closure to that extremely jarring conversation, was;” Virgil spoke through gritted teeth, intense and drawn out. “G. T. G.”

Roman pursed his lips. “Right…well. let me start by saying that I understand that that was a bad call-”

“Oh, you THINK?!”

“Ah! But I have an explanation! Remus was looking over my shoulder, and I didnt want him to see-”

“Looking over your shoulder for a full HOUR after you went radio silent?”

“Well THAT was only because afterward you kind of put me off with your hys-” Roman stopped himself. “Your…”

Virgils tone went cold. “My hysteria? Were you planning to say my hysteria? Wanting to protect my family, one of my closest friends, from someone I know more intimately than you or anyone understands, who I know is trouble no matter the circumstance, is that being hysterical?”

Roman gripped his sash and averted his eyes. “I guess not…”

“Trust me on this Roman. Hes not worth it, hes not who you want him to be and he never will be. He pretends to be, thats how he hooks you in, how he makes sure he has your loyalty. Once he does he lessens the facade. He knows he has you. You’ll help him get his way. And every time you feel like it might not be worth it, that he’s no longer worth being loyal to, he drops you another bread crumb, he draws you back in for a split second to set you back on the path of 'maybe it is worth it, maybe hes turning it around’ only to let you down, over and over again. You can’t start with him. You wont be able to quit.”

Roman was silent. The hall was silent. He decided it was probably best not to ask Virgil to elaborate how he knew all of this. He let out a breath.

“Okay. I hear you. I’ll forget about him.”

Virgil squinted. “Promise. Promise me.”

Roman’s heart beat at the sheer intensity of Virgil’s eyes boring into his. He hated feeling this. Hearing that something he was feeling, love, he thought, was less than valid, was wrong to feel. He wanted to hate Virgil for it. He wanted to tell him he was wrong, but something in him knew that Virgil… might… be right. And he hated it. He wanted romance, he wanted a love story. He opened his mouth:

“I… I prom-”

“Dinner!” Patton shouted up from the kitchen. Roman took a step back, Virgil freeing him from eye contact to identify the sound.

“Looks like you’d better go eat.” He took another step back down the hall toward his room. “I ate in the basement so…”

Virgil caught his eye one last time. Intense again, but in a different way. Regretful maybe, like he could see into Roman’s mind. It made Roman feel emotionally naked, and he hated that too. Virgil turned to leave down the stairs, leaving Roman standing in the hall. After a moment, Roman turned on his heel and left in the opposite direction.

He reached his room and threw open his door, collapsing on his bed. He rolled himself in a bundle of red and gold comforter and summoned the rose into his hand. He stared at it. It was evil, a lie, a bread crumb. According to Virgil. But it didn't look evil. He gently touched the fragile, velvety petals. It looked beautiful, a symbol of love, and romance, and passion. He brushed his fingertips down the bumps where the thorns used to be. A thornless rose meant; “I’ve got you. I’ll protect you from the world.” That wasn’t evil. That was wonderful. Roman’s brow knotted in resolution. Maybe Deceit used to be what Virgil said. Virgil wouldn't lie. But Virgil left. And maybe Deceit had changed since then, maybe that loss changed him. This was worth far too much to give up. The flower wasn't wilted yet, the chance wasn’t gone. Roman conjured a thin vase of water and displayed the rose on his bedside table.

He layed back on his pillow and stared at it, wondering and hoping, until he could no longer keep his eyes open.  
Roman woke the next morning to the smell of blueberry pancakes wafting up the stairs. He rolled out of bed with one last look at the rose. He warmed at the sight of it. He hopped to his feet, changed into casual garb, and made his way to the breakfast table all with a spring in his step.

“Well you’re awfully chipper today, kiddo!” Patton’s smile reflected Roman’s. “I made pancakes!”

“So I’ve smelled!” Roman reached out for a plate, serving himself a shortstack.

“Chipper, yeah.” Roman startled, coughing up a sprinkling of crumbs. He looked across the table to Virgil, who hadn’t been there a moment prior. “Why’s that I wonder?”

Roman could feel his friend’s suspicions weighing on him, his subtle glare unwavering. “No reason really. Just woke up on the right side of the bed I suppose.” He met Virgil’s eyes, hoping to reassure him of his innocence.

“Oh, g'morning Virge, I made pancakes!” Patton sat at the table and pushed the stack of pancakes toward Virgil.

“Thanks Pat.”

“Well!” Roman scarfed down the rest of his stack. “I’m done, thanks for breakfast Pops.”

“You’re always welcome!”

Roman pushed out from the table and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. He managed to avoid eye contact with Virgil as he spun and headed back up to his room. He had work to do. He summoned a craft bin of materials and got down to it.

With a flurry of lace, glue, paper, glitter, and ribbon, he was finished. He reviewed his work. A marvelous, lavish card, reading in Roman’s pristine calligraphy;

“Meet me on the mind palace stage tonight at 7:00pm, I will be eagerly awaiting your arrival.” He gently folded the card and tied it shut with a red satin ribbon. He admired it in his hands before tucking it into a satchel he conjured for the specific purpose. He left the room, quietly descended the stairs, and made his way to the basement door. He looked both ways down the hall before knocking. Silence. Maybe this was a bad idea. No, just hand off the card and leave with dignity. Easy, he was the master of dignity. He was a digniTARY for the sake of it. Footsteps began behind the door, closer and closer. It flung open.

“Can’t stay away huh?” And… wait for it… Roman caught something slimy and soft flying out the doorway from behind his brother. He squealed in disgust and immediately dropped it. The thick, dark green tentacle hit the floor with a splat and slithered back into the darkness. He shook his hand loose of the slime, refusing to wipe it on his clothes, leaving him to hold his arm up awkwardly at his side. Remus giggled. “Suprise! Maybe catching isnt always the best plan.” Roman growled, but collected himself.

“Remus, sweet brother of mine, I have a favor to ask of you.” He put on his best royal decree voice, but he couldn’t keep from gritting his teeth at the words.

“Ooo a TASK!”

“Yes! An important task that needs no questioning. I need you to deliver something to Deceit.” He pulled the note from his satchel.

Remus lit up. “I knew it! I TOLD you I knew it!” He clapped his fingertips and bounced on his toes. “Deceit and Roman, sittin in a tree, F-U-C-K-I-N-G!” Roman slapped his squid slimed hand over his mouth.

“Shut up! It’s not even related to-”

Remus forced the hand from his mouth. “Oh yeah, like a heart-shaped red-ribboned valentine DOESN’T contain even the suggestion that you want to go in on him till you break the bed.”

“As a matter of fact it doesn’t! It’s just an invitation to meet on the mind palace stage at seven!”

Remus looked at Roman like HE was the crazy one. “For fucking. Right?! Am I missing something?!”

Roman huffed. “Obviously you are! Firstly, princes don’t ‘fuck’!”

Remus groaned and rolled his eyes. “Fine, for 'making love’.”

“And secondly, I DON’T want that! You know that, I’m romance, LOVE is my thing!”

A silence. Remus grinned.

“Aww is my widdw bwover in woooooove~?”

Roman blushed. “We’re the same age and I COULD make the argument that I’m older.”

“So I’m not wrong?”

“Just… wash your hands and deliver the goddamn card.”

“Okay. IF you admit you wanna fuck my boss.”

Roman huffed. If that’s what it took. “I wanna fuck your boss,” he mumbled through barely open lips.

Remus pumped his fist and miracled his hands clean. Roman thrust the card out and he took it.

“Aye aye cap'n!” And he was off down the stairs. Roman collected himself and walked away, dignified as he could.

The rest of his day was spent wondering whether or not he’d done the right thing. Virgil said no… but his heart said yes. Deceit was evil… but he said he wasn’t… but he lies. Deceit was so sweet…but in a sometimes mocking way. What if he was teasing with his advances too? Back and forth, thoughts, what ifs, if onlys, danced through his mind. He finally settled it with a simple; “if he shows up, he cares, and its real. If he doesn’t, nothing was there.” And it settled Roman down a little, no matter how much the latter scared him. Seven o'clock was quickly approaching. Roman checked the clock. He had an hour to get ready. This was his moment to shine.

He showered, using all his best scented soaps. He blow dried his hair and gelled it until not a single strand was out of place. He slipped on a light grey suit, red undershirt and tie, nothing too fancy to seem like he was trying too hard, but flattering in all the right places. He popped a breath mint and tipped cologne on his wrists and neck, his own custom scent. It was all perfect. He checked his watch. Half an hour. He ran through lines and conversation topics in his head, pacing his room and mumbling under his breath.

Twenty minutes. He sank out and rose on the mind palace stage. With a flick of his wrist, a table appeared center stage, set with a candle, menus, roses, and ALL sorts of unnecessary forks for that extra hint of fanciness. With another wave the stage was filled with tables, the set filled out with waiters, a fountain, fancy carpet and wall displays, anything you could dream a restuarant to be. Roman proudly surveyed his work. He drew the curtains closed. He wanted it to be a suprise. He checked his watch.

Three minutes… Two minutes…  
The theater door opened, flooding the isle with light, casting a long shadow down the walkway. Roman straightened himself and raised a hand to the silhouette, as if his date would have a hard time figuring out where Roman, the only other person in the room, onstage, would be.

Deceit stalked down the isle, a near slither in the graceful way he moved. As he came into light, Roman noticed he was dressed rather casual for the occasion. In fact, more underdressed than usual. But he didn’t mind, after all, he was there. Deceit began to walk around to the stairs at the side of the stage.

“Wait!” Roman held out his hand. Deceit quirked a brow, humored by the eccentricities, but played along. He took Roman’s hand, another gripping his back, and allowed himself to be hoisted gracefully onstage.

“Well, how fancy! You clean up for this, I wouldn’t have expected.”

“Of course i do, i want this to turn out the best it can.” Roman smiled. All the planning helped his nerves, and he could speak with more confidence.

“Huh.” Deceit layed a hand on Roman’s shoulder, placing the other on his chest. “Could be fun~” He hooked two fingers at the knot of Roman’s tie.

“It will be!” Roman took the hand off his tie and into his own hand. He didn’t let himself be put off by the unexpected advance, though he felt his face warm. “I made sure of it. I made everything perfect for us!”

“How sweet! You are such a charmer your majesty. Shall we get to it then~?”

“That we shall!” Roman grinned and lifted his hand with a flourish. The curtains flew open, billowing up in the breeze, falling still to reveal the fine eatery Roman had built. He gazed upon his work once again, even more proud seeing it with fresh eyes. He turned to Deceit excitedly, wanting to cling to every bit of his reaction. His face fell. Something wasn’t right.

Deceit stood, unmoving, reviewing the spectacle, processing. He looked pale. Some sort of expression flickered across his face, but it happened too quickly to read. Roman’s excitement withered and his previous confidence flickered out. He began to sweat under the scalding stage lights, burning into him.

“Roman… what is…” Deceit pursed his lips and closed his eyes for an excruciatingly long moment. “I didn’t think we were doing… this. Remus, he said that you wanted…” His breath hissed off his tongue and through his teeth as the rest of the sentence fizzled into air.

Roman gulped, painfully. It was difficult to swallow with the dry lump in his throat, yet he had to do something to keep the tears from welling.

“I’m so sorry… If this is too much, if this is too fast, it’s more than okay to tell me, my too fast too much gene must have kicked in, I stop thinking… i thought this was…” He cast his eyes up toward the lights, praying for the building tears to sink back into his waterline. He wasn’t about to cry. This was his happy night, the special night he’d planned.

“You did all of this… because I made you think that i…” Deceit brought his hands to his mouth as if it were painful to consider.

“Think that you what?” Roman swiped the heel of his palm across his eye. Something crumbled in him, the fantasy he’d built. “That you loved me?!” Roman snapped, his voice rose in his desperation. “Because that’s what I thought, was I wrong to think that?! Was the problem me taking everything wrong or were you doing it on purpose?!”

Deceit finally looked toward Roman, tearing his gaze away from the table, set with roses so similar to the one he’d presented Roman with the night before. Something close to panic rimmed his eyes.

“I didn’t mean for it to go this way.”

“How did you mean for it to go?!”

“I… I don’t know!”

“That’s a lie! Don’t lie to me right now, you owe me the truth at least!”

“I don’t owe anyone anything!” Deceit hissed out his feeble defense.

“You you don’t mean that! Answer me, was any of it true? Was any of it real?!” Roman let his hair fall out of place, he let his voice crack, he let his tears fall. He wanted to be REAL. He needed real. He paused to catch his breath.

Deceit was now far left stage, much further than where he’d begun. Roman hadn’t noticed that he’d been constantly stepping forward enough to push him this far off center.

Deceit’s hands were balled into tight fists, gripping his bangs, not in fear of Roman, but of his words, breaking under the barrage of sudden accusations.

“I need an answer! That’s all I need! Deceit, do you love me?!”

A choking sound from under Deceits hands, the entire essence of inner conflict voiced in a single, guttural noise. Then a word:

“YES!”

And he was gone. A thin yellow mist caught in the spotlight was all that remained of him. That, and the painful truth left hanging in the air alongside it. Deceit’s answer was, without a doubt, crisp and clear, a lie. Roman couldn’t read tells, he wasn’t the best at decoding Deceit’s words. But somehow, he knew. Deceit might as well have shouted the answer entirely opposite, and it would have read the same. No part of it was real. Ever.

Roman stood in stunned silence, processing how quickly everything had crumbled before him. His fantasy gone sour. His love story turned tragedy. He growled, building into a roar. He stormed into his set and grabbed the candle off the table, throwing it to the ground, shattering the holder and setting the tablecloth up in flame. The fire climbed, consuming the menus, the napkins, and the roses. One more wouldn’t make much difference. Roman summoned the rose from his bedside table and tossed it into the fire, watching the petals curl into glowing nothing, and the thornless stem spiral and writhe until it didn’t symbolize a thing. Maybe it never did. Table after table lit up, the flames growing higher until they caught the curtains, which didn’t take long to entirely combust. The accusatory stage lights all burst one at a time, until nothing lit the space but the glow of the raging fire.

Roman clenched his teeth, hoping for a hint of something cathartic, feeling the scorch of the heat on his skin, letting himself sweat it off until even that grew unbearable. He let out a breath and waved a hand, and the room went dark. No fire, no restaurant, no lights. Just a dark, cold, untouched mind palace stage. Roman squeezed his eyes shut, and sank back to his room.

He didn’t rise up so much as materialize into a bundle of comforter, though it did little to comfort him. He grabbed a lump of blanket and buried his face deep. He let down every defense, the flood rushing forth, escaping in a choked, gasping sob, racking his ribs with a series of irregular rises and falls. The blankets did little to muffle the onslaught of misery, though they did catch the tears. Roman could tell in the way the soaked fabric clung to his skin, and the taste of salt overwhelmed his senses. He cried for what felt like hours. He was pathetic. It was all pathetic, how insistent he was on living a fairytale that he couldn’t see what was clearly going on. He was being used, again. He’d even known, he’d been directly told and consciously elected to ignore it. He let his dignity pour out into his bedding until nothing was left but shame, a stupid daydreamer.  
“Roman…?” A knock at the door. Roman swallowed his sobs. Part of him wanted to shout “go away” or “I’m fine”. The drama queen part, the part that wanted to put on a production. But another part, the needy, sad part, really needed some attention. He lifted his head out of the covers enough to speak.

“Yeah?”

“Can I come in?”

This time Roman could identify the voice. Virgil.

“Are you gonna yell at me?”

“I wont yell at you. Cmon.”

Roman considered for a moment before;

“Yeah, come in…” He re-buried his face before the click of the latch. He heard footsteps on plush carpet, followed by the shift and creak of the bed as Virgil sat down.

“So what did you do?”

“You said you wouldn’t yell at me.” The accusation was more of a statement. He was lacking the energy necessary for the usual offended princey spectacle.

“I’m not yelling. But i’ll phrase it better: What happened?”

Roman whimpered and shifted, lifting his head to meet Virgil’s eyes. He didnt seem mad, though he had to know what was going on. More than anything he looked concerned, and that reassured Roman a little.

“Deceit.”

Virgil nodded. His neutral expression tightened, only slightly.

“What did he do?”

A fresh batch of tears threatened to fall. Roman’s lip quivered but he managed to fight it back.

“I thought he was hinting that he…” He bit his lip. “And so I thought, if I was right, he’d come on a date-” Another sniffle. Virgil exhaled sharply upon the word “date” but held himself back from interrupting. “And he did, but I don’t think he thought it was a date…” At that point Virgil did interrupt.

“What did he think it was?” He clearly knew the answer. Roman shrugged in response.

“And I showed him everything I set up, and he-” Roman’s shoulders shook and another waterfall of tears managed to escape. He mashed his face back into the covers.

“He said that you had it wrong? He explained himself?”

Roman lifted his head, face re-moistened.

“That’s the worst part!” He didnt bother to control the volume of his voice. “He said he loved me when he clearly didn’t, and then left! He left me with a blatant lie!”

Virgil gritted his teeth.

“He has a plan. And you threw a wrench in it. But he doesnt want to give it up just yet.” Virgil mumbled under his breath.

“What does that mean?” Roman’s voice cracked. Virgil met his eye.

“Means I’m paying him a visit.”

~~

Virgil stood outside the basement, though he had no dinner to deliver. He tightened his fist and pounded on the door. Roman had assured Virgil that he didn’t have to go, that his dumb problems weren’t worth the panic atrack that even the thought of re-entering the dark’s realm usually triggered. But Virgil had insisted. And he still did. Deceit had crossed a line. The door flew open with a bang.

“VIRGIL!” He was suddenly enveloped in a suffocating hug, suffocating not only in its tightness, but in the stench. He tried to fight his way out, but the hold was vice-like. “YOU’RE BACK! Are you back for good?! What are you doing here?!” Virgil finally found his way out.

“I’m not ‘back’, I’m just here to have a chat with Deceit.”

“Ooooooo is he in trouble?!” Remus clasped his hands together, seemingly having trouble containing his excitement at Virgil’s being there. Virgil knew from experience that it was best to entertain him for a few lines of dialogue before trying to get anything from him.

“Big trouble.”

“What did he do? Oh, did Roman do it?! Did you walk in on em?!”

Virgil scowled. “No, I didn’t. Were you in on that?”

“I tried to be. He was being a pain in the ass about it though. But we both knew what he wanted. So when I gave Dee the letter I made sure to let him know what Roman said about the whole thing.”

“What did he say?”

“That he wanted to fuck him.”

“He did NOT say that.”

“Oh he said it! Did he do it?! You didn’t say he didnt do it!”

“He didn’t. Where’s Deceit?”

“DECEIT!” Remus craned his neck back and shouted as loud as he could, which was very. Virgil flinched and brought his hands to his ears.

“Jesus dude, I meant tell me where I can find him!”

“WHAT?!” A familiar voice answered from down the steps.

“Well then you can find him right here!” Remus stepped aside and pointed down the stairs. Virgil pushed past him, eyes quickly adjusting to the dark.

Eyes met. A stillness, tension seeming to crackle in the air, like static before a storm. Remus shifted uncomfortably. Even he, the absolute opposite of an empath, could sense it.

“Virgil’s back…” He restated with nervous jazz hands. The energy in the room remained stagnant. “Should i-”

“Go.” Virgil didn’t have to turn his head. He knew that Remus knew to comply. The duke sank out without a second thought. Virgil knew he was listening from somewhere, but that wasn’t his main concern at the moment. His main concern was standing half a flight of stairs below him, petrified.

“Virgil…” Deceit forced a weak smile. “What brings you-”

Virgil descended the stairs in what seemed like a fraction of a second, fists balled at his sides and glare unwavering. He gripped Deceits wrist and yanked him into the hallway, throwing the hand down and pinning him in place with a steely glare alone.

“We both already know why I’m here, so start talking.”

Deceit hissed, baring his fangs reflexively, in defense rather than agression. Virgils heart beat faster, though he knew he held the upper hand. Deceit brought a hand to his mouth, swallowing the impulse.

“Look, Virgil, I didn’t think that that was the message i was sending. I hosted him for dinner like Patton asked, impromptu may I add, and sent him to bond with his brother, which was what he said he was sent to do. I’m morally clean here!”

“Oh, so the texts he sent were blatant lies?! I thought that was your job.” Virgil pulled his phone from his pocket and pulled up Roman’s frantic texts. “The part where you kissed his hand, was that just being a good host?”

“Well that… you know he exaggerates-”

“The part where tonight, you met him for something you clearly thought was more than a date? The part where you TOLD HIM that you LOVED HIM? Was that exaggerative?”

“I-” Deceit exhaled sharply, frustrated as he struggled to find an excuse. “He caught me off gaurd! He wasn’t supposed to fall in LOVE!”

“He wasn’t 'supposed to’? What, praytell, was he 'supposed’ to do then? What was he 'supposed’ to feel, or think, what was his ROLE in your little production, hm?!”

“I just-! Look, it’s not my fault that nobody ever considers what I bring to the table! It’s not my fault that the only chance I have at finding an ally in this entire god forsaken mindscape is if I-”

“Manipulate and deceive my friend into becoming one of your puppets? Pretend to be there for him, pretend to love him back so he’ll easier bend to your will at the drop of a hat?!”

“NO! That’s not- you’re misunderstanding my-” Deceit dragged a hand down his face, struggling to phrase his motive in a kinder way. “He was already so close to understanding my side, he was so frustratingly close! But he sides with you all every time because he sees me as some monster, some demon, because that’s all you let him see of me! So I thought that if I showed him that I could be there for him, if I made that connection, that I’d have him in my corner when I needed him. Honest to god, I didn’t mean for him to go this far with it!”

“So it’s his fault? For taking your clear advances as something maybe even potentially romantic? It was his own dumb fault that he went off and fell in love with you? That doesn’t just HAPPEN Deceit!”

Deceit swallowed. He took a breath and cautiously stepped away from the wall hed subconsciously been pressed up against, toward Virgil.

“Cmon Virge… we know each other’s names, you can call me by name, you know me, you know that I wouldn’t-”

“NO. You do NOT get to call me that. My FRIENDS call me Virge, and whatever you are, whoever you THINK that you are to me, you are NOT my friend.”

Deceit stumbled back a step, bringing his hands to his chest as if he’d been shot. He gulped.

“I’m sorry. I am. I try not to do things like this, but you’re right. It wasn’t an accident, manipulating him. I knew what I was doing, I knew the risk, I knew it was selfish, and I did it anyway. I want to be better Virgil, I wan-”

“Shut up. I don’t need your sob story. I’m not the one who needs to hear you apologize. I’m not the one you hurt.”

Deceit bit his lip, the guilt building in his expression as he further processed what he’d done. His brow knotted as he worked to find a remedy to the situation.

“I can’t honestly give him what he wants… but I can fake it. I can give him that if you want me to, I can love him if that would make it right, I’ll go on a date, I’ll go on ten, I’ll do that for him, if I don’t stop it wont hurt him right? Is that what you want?!” Virgil shook his head.

“It’s not about what I want. And that’s not what he needs. He’d be living a lie, that’s what I’ve been trying to prevent this whole time. You need to apologize to HIM. You need to explain yourself.”

“Wouldn’t it be easier to-”

“NO. You owe this to him. You brought this on yourself. This is your retribution.”

“But can’t you tell him? Tell him I said it, tell him I said whatever you want me to say!” He was near pleading. Apologies were clearly crossing the line for him. His sinister, cunning villain aesthetic clearly meant more to him than Roman’s feelings. Virgil set his jaw. He grabbed Deceit’s shoulder and yanked him forward until their foreheads nearly touched. He could count scales if he really wanted. He spoke softly, coldly:

“Listen close, because I wont say this again. You’re not a bad person Deceit. You sure as hell aren’t a good person, in any sense of the word, But you aren’t a bad person.” Virgil took a breath, loosening his grip. “I want you to know that you made a good man cry tonight. Really think about that. A bad person wouldnt care. But I know, and I can see, that that good bit in you is burning with guilt right now, gutting you from the inside out, and it HURTS. And I know that the only way to stop it is for you to drop that goddamn ego, and just be human, and empathetic, and KIND, for once in your life. This is how you do it.”

Deceit blinked, eyes shining with a hint of moisture. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, letting it out in a defeated hiss.

“…Okay. I’ll do it.”

“Now?”

“Now.” He opened his eyes. “Take me to him.”

Virgil nodded. He gestured with a tip of the head and Deceit followed, past Remus (who had been listening from the end of the hall, undoubtedly), up the stairs, and up to Roman’s door.  
Roman lifted his head to the sound of a knock at the door. He sniffed, his meltdown near its tail end.

“Come in.” Virgil let himself in, creating a barrier between the hall and the room.

“Don’t hate me, he’s here for a reason.”

Roman’s stomach twisted.

“He’s…?” He quickly averted his eyes as Deceit entered the room. He bunched his covers in an attempt to hide his tearstained face. “What’s HE doing here?”

“I-,” Deceit started.

“I didn’t ask you!” Roman threw the blankets away from his face to glare at him.

“He’s here to apologize.” Virgil nudged Deceit toward the bed. “Right?”

Looking at Deceit then, Roman could tell something had gone down. He seemed far less composed, less guarded than usual.

“Right…”

“Virgil, did you threaten him? Did you scare him into doing this? If so, I don’t want it. It’s just as selfish an act as per his usual agenda.” He turned away, refusing to meet either party’s eyes.

“He didnt threaten me into anything. I just took some convincing. And I shouldn’t have. Because I’m sorry.”

Roman blinked and looked up at him.

“Yeah right you’re sorry. This is just another mind game.”

“It’s not a mind game, I treated you horribly, and I didn’t consider your feelings, and I’m sorry, okay?!” Deceit squeezed his eyes shut as if every word were a physical blast to his ego.

“Really?” Roman crossed his arms and straightened. “Elaborate.”

“You’re a good guy, you’re delightful, and if I had to pick any of the lights to exist amicably around it would be you. And that’s really the reason I did it. Because I thought I had the best chance with you. Chance for an associate that is.”

Roman raised a brow. “An ‘acossiate’?”

“Okay, that wasn’t the best word for it… an ally, a joined force, you’re spectacular at…agreeing with me?”

“Oh, really?! That’s what you’re gonna go with?”

Deceit huffed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Wow, this is going swimmingly…” He took a breath, tensing and untensing his fingers as he found the words. “I’m trying to say that I wasn’t lying, the part where I said that we both want the same for Thomas. I wasn’t lying when-”

“Considering you’re apologizing, maybe try clearing up the things you WERE lying about first. A little stage direction for you.” Roman’s voice was cold. He wasn’t in the mood for a sales pitch.

“Alright. You’re right. Im… not used to being honest in stints this long. Pardon me if my wording takes a moment to construct.” Deceit paused a moment, seeming to write a script in his mind. “What I did to you wasn’t justified. I was caught up in my own plan, and I didn’t factor your feelings into it. You’re the dreamer, the romantic, and I chose not to consider that when… warping your reality in a means to my end. And I should have known the way I was taking things would ultimately hurt you. But I was selfish. And I didn’t want to care. And that… was wrong of me to do.”

Roman nodded as he processed. Then spoke:

“To be honest with myself… I don’t think that i loved you. I think that i wanted to. Right, I’m the dreamer. And I wanted a Shakespearean love story, when there was really nothing there. I think I fell in love with the idea of being in love. Not with you. I knew every time I heard your name that it was a stupid, stupid thing to try. Of COURSE you were lying, of COURSE there was some bigger scheme behind it, that’s what you DO. You’re DECEIT. And Virgil even warned me, the doubts were there the whole time, I made up the love and I dove headfirst into it. So i don’t blame you for being caught of gaurd. I still have plenty left to blame you for.”

“And you have every right to. I really do hope that once this is all over, that you don’t hate me. I didn’t want to hurt you, truly and honestly, and if you ever wanted to come down for dinner again, as frie-”

“Not the time, nor the place. This isn’t making up buddy-buddy, this is an apology. One sided. You hurt me. And I apologized for my side because I’m a good guy. But this is on you.”

Deceit nodded, eyes glossing over as he thought to himself. He took a long breath.

“Okay. That’s okay. I understand.” He met Roman’s eyes. “Apology accepted?”

“Accepted, grudgingly.”

Deceit collected himself, adjusting his capelet and running a hand through his hair. He went from awkward and apologetic back to a cunning and sinister character in a disconcertingly brief moment. “Good. Then this never happened.” And he was gone.

Roman looked to Virgil. If Deciet’s facade was that practiced, who knew how many times he broke it heavily only to assume it again? Which Deceit was the facade, the apologetic or the sinister? Virgil’s expression betrayed no answer. But the unsettling thought only lasted a moment before Roman was flooded with relief. He didn’t mind all that really. This felt like closure.

“Thank you Virgil. So much.” He wiped his eye and smiled.

“It was nothing. He doesn’t get to mess with my friends. Plain and simple. It’s no special favor for me to enforce that.” He ran a hand through his bangs and looked away, acting all tough.

“Aww… aw we fwiends?” Roman teased, delighting in Virgil’s blush.

“Definitely not if you keep that up.”

“Really though. I honestly don’t know what’s up with me lately…” Roman thought it over. The answer hit him like a bag of bricks. “OH!”

“What? What happened?”

“It’s Thomas! He’s been single for longer than usual. Usually I get my love from him, when he feels it I do. Withdrawls.”

“Withdrawls?” Virgil snorted.

“I couldn’t get my romance fix. I tried to force something inside his head, some big romantic gesture. I’m the romance guy!”

“You are indeed the 'romance guy’. Anything we can do for you then?”

“Well I know why I’m emotional at least, so there’s that. I know not to try to force something. So I can focus on my other stuff, creating, friendship! Thomas will get to romance in his own time. Until then I can focus on things other than my poetic yearning!”

“Mhm. So this all went down cause you were horny?”

“AH AH AH!” Roman held up a finger. “Remus gets horny. I have POETIC. YEARNING.”

“Okay, okay…” Virgil chuckled. “So that part about friendship… the family hasn’t eaten yet, Patton’s crock-potting tonight. Whole kitchen smells amazing. Want to focus on that?”

Roman smiled and rolled out of bed, fighting his way out of the sheets until he was on his feet.

“I would love nothing more.”

~~

Deceit threw open the door to the basement. Everything felt bad. He’d been set back al least a few months, easily more. But he felt more bad than usual. Couldn’t have been Roman’s feelings. He didn’t care about Roman. Not at all. Couldn’t have been Virgil’s numerous denouncements of him right to his face. That didnt bother him. In the slightest. He reached the bottom of the stairs to run smack into an expectant Remus.

“What happened?! What he do, what did you say?!” Deceit rolled his eyes.

“I killed them both. Mercilessly and painfully.”

Remus gasped and squealed in delight. “How?! I want the details!”

“Fangs. Tore their throats out. Blood. Lots of it.”

“I’m so proud!” He mimed wiping a tear from his cheek. “Honest?”

Deceit snorted. He felt his mood lift, only slightly. “Of course not you maniac.”

Remus pouted. Deceit chuckled. Maybe Roman hated him then. Maybe they all did. Maybe he deserved it. Maybe he definitely deserved it. But nothing was lost forever. Someday he’d learn, and someday they’d learn. Someday he’d know how to work his magic without bringing them down in the process, learn to use his guilt to figure out morals. But until then, he had this smiley idiot, who really didn’t care what he did either way. A cheerleader for anything he chose to do. And that was a great thing to have.

“So you didn’t kill them… you two fucked though, right?”

Deceit sighed, letting the day’s events out of his mind.

“Absolutely.”


End file.
